TimesTo all ... I've searched the archives and couldn't find a solution to what will most probably turn out to be something simple. Hopefully, someone has dealt with this before. Here's the problem: Using mailx, I need to send a mail message to one or more users advising that their interactive terminal session has exceeded the permitted idle time, and that they'll be killed in 15 minutes (the session, not the user). The Korn Shell script to identify the culprit(s) is written and works like a charm on a DEC 3300 running under Digital UNIX 4.0D. However, when I port it over to an Alpha system, also running under Digital UNIX 4.0D, mailx writes the header and first line of the incoming message on the user's screen, which resets their idle time, rendering the script moot. It occurred to me that I needed to unset an option in the Mail.rc file on the Alpha, but the Mail.rc files on both systems are identical. The Korn Shell script is also identical, there are no .mailrc files present in the users' home directories on either system to override the Mail.rc file, and the yet mailx acts differently. It's probably some implementation of the mailx top option that's active on the Alpha and not on the DEC 3300, but I can't find where to turn it off. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Here's the chunk of code that sends the mail message ($i is the username, $j is the PID of the offending terminal session): for j in $badpid do badproc=`ps -ef | grep $j | sed '/grep/d' | awk '{if ($2 == '"$j"') print $0}'` mailx -s "Idle Process Alert" <<<<- +++ $i The interactive terminal session listed below has been inactive for at least 1:45, and is eligible for termination in 15 minutes. $badproc +++ done And here are the contents of the Mail.rc files: DEC 3300 /usr/share/lib> cat Mail.rc set append dot save ignore Received Message-Id Resent-Message-Id Status Mail-From Return-Path Via Alpha 4100 /usr/share/lib> cat Mail.rc set append dot save ignore Received Message-Id Resent-Message-Id Status Mail-From Return-Path Via Thanks in advance. ... Al Austin -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A. Austin | Phone: 610-430-6339 Competitive Media Reporting | FAX: 610-430-6355 1385 Enterprise Drive | email: aaustin@norfolk.cmr.com West Chester, PA 19380 | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Diplomacy is learning how to say "Nice dog!" - until you can find a big enough stick. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-